CHICAGO (ELCA) -- International Disaster Response of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) provided $50,000 this month to support recovery efforts from war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, $50,000 to assist flood recovery efforts in India and $50,000 for drought and famine relief in Tanzania.
Members of the ELCA contribute funds to the church's International Disaster Response fund. Coordinated through the ELCA Division for Global Mission, International Disaster Response helps relief agencies provide funds for food, medicine, drinking water, emergency shelter and other materials and supplies. Funds are also used to rebuild communities and to repair structures destroyed by major disasters.
The war that began in August 1998 still continues today in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Rev. Y. Franklin Ishida, director for international communication, ELCA Division for Global Mission.
Ishida said more than half of the "Congolese territory is in rebel hands." People from the areas of North Kivu and South Kivu have had to "flee their homes several times," and their "villages are raided for food and livestock."
"They flee without belongings," he said. "Many who return find their homes and gardens destroyed." This has led to a "sharp deterioration" in supplies of food, water and medicine, he said.
The funds sent by the ELCA will help support the relief efforts through Action by Churches Together (ACT). ACT is working with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Congo to provide food, medicine, seeds and tools, and "capacity building" for residents in the North Kivu, South Kivu and Maniemam areas of Congo.
ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. ACT is based in Switzerland with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and Lutheran World Federation. The ELCA is a member of both the WCC and LWF.
In Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, India, thousands have lost all their belongings from flood waters, Ishida said. "Many have lost clothing, food and shelter," he said. "About four million people have been affected by floods in some way." Temporary shelter, food and clean water is being provided there.
"There has been an immense loss of crops, livestock and infrastructure" in India, according to Ishida. "Hundreds of relief camps have been set up in flood-affected areas for people left homeless," he said.
The $50,000 sent by the ELCA will help support the flood relief efforts of ACT and the Lutheran World Federation's World Service in India, a member of ACT.
Meanwhile, drought conditions have caused severe food shortages, about 680,000 metric tons worth, in nine regions of Tanzania -- Arusha, Dodoma, Kilimanjaro, Morogoro, Mwanza, Shinyanga, Singida, Tabora and Tanga.
"Rains for the 1999 planting season were delayed. People started planting anyway, but many ate the seeds because there was a lack of food," Ishida said. "There are also reports of families committing suicide because of the lack of food, and tensions are increasing among the population," he said.
Staff of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania, located in the Mbulu Diocese, report that more than 500,000 people have been affected in the Mbulu area alone.
"People have sold everything they have to buy seed for planting. Many have planted several times, only to see everything burned up by the sun," said Delight Gartlein, an ELCA volunteer missionary there. "Maize is the staple crop, and its price is rising," Gartlein said.
The drought that has plagued Tanzania, Ishida said, has also caused continued suffering for people from Burundi who, as a result of "civil conflict" between government and opposition rebel groups there, live in refugee camps in Tanzania. More than 150,000 people have died as a result of the civil conflict.
More than 800,000 people are "displaced" in Burundi, and more than 480,000 live in refugee camps in Tanzania, Ishida said. About 120,000 refugees are in the Kibondo district of Tanzania. "Another 40,000 refugees are in a new camp in Karago," he said. Camps there are managed by the Tanganyika Christian Refugee Service of the Lutheran World Federation.
"In the midst of the drought and famine in Tanzania, refugees from Burundi do not have access to any resources. The current appeal for funds by ACT will provide for more emergency shelter and construction, the distribution of food and other items, water development and refugee camp management," Ishida said.
The ELCA is contributing $50,000, through ACT, in response to the drought, famine and refugee situation in Tanzania. ---- INTERNATIONAL DISASTERS:
Editors: When listing organizations receiving funds for aid to
survivors of major disasters outside the United States, Puerto Rico
or the U.S. Virgin Islands, please include:
Lutheran World Relief
PO Box 17061
Baltimore, MD 21298-9832
1-800-LWR-LWR2
For information contact:
John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://listserv.elca.org/archives/elcanews.html
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About the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America:
The ELCA is one of the largest Christian denominations in the United States, with 2.8 million members in more than 8,500 worshiping communities across the 50 states and in the Caribbean region. Known as the church of "God's work. Our hands.," the ELCA emphasizes the saving grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ, unity among Christians and service in the world. The ELCA's roots are in the writings of the German church reformer Martin Luther.
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